Mike Oldfield • Tubular Bells
Classic Records/Virgin Records VS 2001
33-RPM 200g LP
1973/2007
Originally released in May 1973 as the first record on the nascent Virgin Records label, Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells is one of my all-time favourite records: I fell in love with it (especially side one) when I first heard it many years ago in the late 1970s, and have loved it ever since. I have even made a pilgrimage to The Manor, the country manor house in which Tubular Bells was recorded. (Unfortunately, The Manor is no longer a recording studio; it was sold to private individuals years ago after EMI purchased Virgin Records from Richard Branson. The then-current owners were kind enough to let me look around for a while.) It’s probably fair to say that Tubular Bells really took off on this side of the Atlantic after it was used as the haunting theme for the 1973 movie, The Exorcist.
Consisting of two side-long compositions, Tubular Bells shows off Oldfield’s skills as a multi instrumentalist. He plays a variety of instruments such as guitars, keyboards, glokenspiel, and assorted percussion (to name but a few). The music itself, in my opinion, is sublime (especially side one), demanding to played relatively loudly, in a darkened room. Starting quietly with just a piano and tinkling bells, the multilayered texture is gradually built up to the climax of side one, which features the titular tubular bells. Side two is a bit different, evoking images of prehistoric man—until Oldfield’s breakneck take on The Sailor’s Hornpipe kicks in at the end anyway!
The sound quality doesn’t disappoint either. Despite being a multitrack studio recording, the sound quality is very good. I’d attribute this to the relatively simply recording techniques and little post processing. The sound is warm and natural without a hint of thinness or treble hardness that sometimes plagues otherwise good-sounding records, and the record is replete with lots of the little details that audiophiles love to spot. Depth is OK, but what a great left to right sound stage: it is wide, immersive, and enveloping.
As far as comparing this version to the one EMI released as part of their centenary celebrations a few years ago, I’d say that the Classic Records reissue gives up very little to the latter, which has a slight edge in treble purity and detail over the former. Purchasers of the Classic Records version will not be disappointed. (One wonders how great this record would sound on Classic’s Clarity vinyl...)
If it isn’t already obvious, this record earns my highest recommendation: both the music and the sound quality are of the highest order, and the heavy cardboard sleeve is up to Classic’s usual high packaging standards. I’d go almost as far to say that Tubular Bells is a mandatory purchase, and should be part of every record collection. If you haven’t already got a copy, buy one today!